GSC Revives Grocery Shuttle on Trial Basis

By Jung Yoon Choi

The Graduate Student Council is resurrecting a grocery shuttle to bring
students to LaVerde's Star Market in Medford, a full service grocery store,
according to Jeffrey J. Sriver G, co-chair of the GSC Housing and Community
Affairs Committee.

The grocery shuttle will begin operation this Saturday and will run
every Saturday through October, Sriver said. Buses will start at Building
E40 at 11 a.m. and 12 p.m. and make several stops across campus before
heading out to the Star Market, he said.

"Based on what the interest is during the trial period, we will make a
decision on whether to continue the shuttle through November and beyond,"
Sriver said.

Frank LaVerde, the owner of the Star Market and LaVerde's Market in the
Student Center, is sponsoring the shuttle, Sriver said. LaVerde also
sponsored the shuttle attempt in the spring, which was terminated due to a
lack of participation, Sriver said.

"Frank LaVerde is looking for at least 30 participants a week to call
the program a success," Sriver said. "If there is enough interest, he is
willing to continue to sponsor the shuttle." LaVerde would be sponsoring
the shuttle mainly as a community service, Sriver said.

The GSC has been receiving several requests to restart the shuttle
service, and the issue has been petitioned at various graduate student
dormitories, Sriver said.

"We have every reason to believe that the shuttle will be widely used,"
said GSC Adviser Ying Ying Li. First-year graduate students and
undergraduates will make the most use of the shuttle, Li said. Also, "it
will soon be winter, and it will be even more difficult for people to carry
food from stores or T-stops," she said.

"What we need is hard evidence to present to Frank LaVerde that the
program will be a success," Sriver said.

The committee agreed to organize a four-week trial period with LaVerde
to sample the amount of interest among MIT students, he said.

The shuttle will be available for all graduate and undergraduate
students and spouses, Sriver said.

Participation in the shuttle last spring waned toward the end of the
semester due to final exams, Sriver said. A weak publicity campaign may
have also contributed to the failure, he said.